I can remember as a child getting letters in the mail

It was ever so exciting

A birthday card or maybe a gift

Perhaps a long letter from a distant aunt

As I got older, letters became less exciting

Bills and junk mail filled the mailbox

People hardly ever write letters anymore

Opening the mail has become a chore

Something I do maybe once a week

Standing over the trash can and tossing most letters unopened

The rest are usually bills which have been paid electronically

I can remember the days of answering the phone every time it rang

Back then our landline had no caller ID

There were no robo sales calls in that era

Today I only answer calls from people I know

The rest go to voicemail

I can remember when I got my first personal email account

It was exciting to get the new email alerts

There were no junk emails as only trusted friends had my email address

Then slowly but surely emails became boring

Daily barrages of sales pitches

Malicious emails trying to trick you into virus traps

Today I leave most of my emails unopened and delete them

I can remember when texting was a novelty

No need to make or receive phone calls

Few people want to talk on the phone anymore

Especially if the call is out of the blue

Just send a quick text message

Sorry I will be 15 mins late

Don’t forget to buy milk

Call me please

Then came the group texting messages like WhatsApp

Great for planning a party or an event

But if you don’t keep on top of your texts

You can easily be 50 messages behind the rest of the group

I can remember the excitement of hearing the doorbell ring

Rushing to open the door and say hello

It might be a friend surprising you

That does not happen anymore

Today I check the doorbell App before going to the door

I can see who is there on the doorbell camera

If I don’t know the person, I might just ignore them

So if you really want to see me in person

Write me an old fashioned letter telling me you will be sending an email

In your email let me know you will be calling me on the phone

I probably won’t pickup so leave a voicemail that you will text me

Text me to say when you will sending me a group text

Then send a group text to the whole household

Stating the date and time you will show up at the house

When you arrive please ring our doorbell and talk into the camera

If you are lucky, somebody might just open the door and greet you